The sense of refinement, the admiring comments from friends who saw the car and the fact that it costs £28,440 combine to inspire a feeling of some surprise that this is the second cheapest Mercedes E-Class estate in the current range.You would have to drive quite a lot of E-Classes over a short period to feel that this particular car occupies a lowly position in the pecking order. Perhaps even better-looking than the saloon, the estate is sternly elegant from nearly every angle; the exception, to me, is that when you're looking at it side-on the proportions suddenly become clumsy, a problem easily solved by never looking at it side-on.The visual appeal continues inside. The E-Class has one of the best mainstream Mercedes interiors ever - comfortable, very spacious and with various pleasing shapes dotted around the place. The dial design, for example, is minimalist but satisfying, though I reckon that style has overtaken usefulness in one respect.Cars sold in the UK must display road speeds in km/h as well as mph. Most manufacturers get round this by showing the metric figures on the main dial, but in the E-Class that would spoil the balance of the design, so Mercedes has instead displayed them digitally. Fair enough, if you like digital readouts, but I don't, and I was slightly miffed at this rather irritating way of displaying information I had no use for as long as I stayed in this country.I was much happier with the four-cylinder turbo diesel engine. From what I remember of the E-Class saloon launch back in the summer of 2002, I think the 220 CDI unit used here is a bit quieter than the larger 270 CDI, but it's still by no means the last word in refinement (not that anyone has ever made a four-cylinder diesel sound attractive). It does work well, though. The power and fuel economy figures are impressive without being astonishing, but they combine to make the E-Class a decent and inexpensive performer.This is particularly the case if you go for the six-speed manual gearbox. The test car used the five-speed automatic, which inevitably takes the edge off the car's capabilities but is nonetheless a decent transmission with a particularly sweet shift quality if you decide to change gears yourself using the Tiptronic option.The other good thing about the automatic is that it makes some sense of the parking brake system. This is one of those wretched foot-operated contraptions which Mercedes decided many years ago was a good idea (in blatant contradiction of the fact that it isn't) and has persevered with ever since.Our car was in Classic trim, the lowest of the three levels - upgrades to Elegance and Avantgarde are available at a cost of £2100 and £2600 respectively. I'd be perfectly happy sticking with Classic myself, since you gain nothing of any great importance by going for the higher specifications.Being fairly humble in E-Class terms, this car also avoids the massively complicated electronic suspension assistance trickery found further up the range. Mercedes has made a very good job of all that clever stuff, but it also has a history of doing fine work with the traditional arrangement of springs, dampers and anti-roll bars.Because the estate may be required to carry heavy loads, a certain amount of compromise has had to be built in to the rear suspension, and this naturally causes the chassis to lose some of the grace which the saloon has in abundance. But the ride quality remains more than acceptable, and grip levels are so high that the diesel estate proves to be quite an effective back-road charger even though its appearance and general feel give no hint of this.Second opinion: Inside, it's the push buttons that do it for me, as well as the instrument display. Unlike its Munich rival, Mercedes doesn't reckon that neatly-styled buttons are passé in a car of this class, hooray to which. In fact, every time I got into the test car I couldn't help thinking how superior the whole cabin presentation was, compared with the worthy but dull approach Mercedes used to favour in the days when engineering took precedence over things like a sense of style, decent wood trim and the whole tactile experience. Yes, the Classic specification would do me fine. There's very little lacking that you really feel the need for on a regular basis. This is certainly a big car, but it's easy to drive, especially when you go into gentle-sideways-nudge mode with the Tiptronic change, although the steering sometimes feels unexpectedly heavy around town. The side-on appearance - well, this is a long, low estate, and that's just what it looks like. What else would you expect? The seat-folding and other luggage area arrangements are very practical, because Mercedes designed this car so that it could work for its living rather than be just a lifestyle affair. The development team obviously put a lot of work into rear compartment detailing, so that as an estate the E-Class is logically laid-out and equipped, as well as spacious. Ross Finlay. Engine 2148cc, 4 cylinders Power 148bhp Transmission 5-speed automatic Fuel/CO2 38.7mpg / 188g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 11.1 seconds Top speed 129mph Price £28,440 Details correct at publication date
